


Amusement Park

by parka_girl



Category: K-pop, Speed (Kpop)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-21
Updated: 2015-09-21
Packaged: 2018-04-22 19:26:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4847429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parka_girl/pseuds/parka_girl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I didn't know what to write and J told me to write about a boy in an amusement park and this is what happened. I have no specific amusement park in mind. Though it's set in South Korea, it could be anywhere, really.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Amusement Park

The sunset Yoohwan sees from the top of the Ferris wheel is beautiful. The sky's still blue, but it's a darker, deepening blue. The clouds are painted in shades of pinks and purples that he hadn't known existed. As the wheel turns, he watches the colors changing until the dusk is upon him. The sky has turned a dark, velvety blue and Yoohwan knows soon it'll be dark enough to see the stars. 

The Ferris wheel brings him back to the bottom, the door clanging loudly as it unlocks and then again as it shuts behind him. For a moment Yoohwan considers getting back in line to take the ride again, but he doesn't, though the queue is short. Instead, he walks down the steps and onto the concrete below. 

The crowd isn't as big as it was when he went up -- when it was still light out. Most of the children have gone home and Yoohwan takes a moment to watch the adults, most of them couples, wandering around the park. He is alone, of course, which suits him just fine. It's not that he couldn't find someone to go with, though he's between relationships, it's that he doesn't want to. 

When he was little going to the amusement park was a treat, something special, something he shared with his family. Maybe one he'll have a family of his own to share it with, for now it's still a treat, but one that he keeps to himself. His life is busy, full of work and being an adult even when he doesn't want to be. The amusement park, not just this one but any of them, is his escape. 

Sometimes he comes here with his parents, but they're getting too old, too impatient, to stand in lines. And, much to his chagrin, they're all growing too old for the rides. Except the Ferris wheel, of course. All of Yoohwan's best amusement park memories are on Ferris wheels. High in the sky, looking out over cities and people, out over parks and towns. Nothing can touch you, Yoohwan remembers thinking, when you're so high up. 

He's been walking aimlessly and he stops, turning back toward the wheel. It's light up bright, the lights seeming to glitter in the darkness. It takes Yoohwan's breath away, not because it's beautiful though it is, but because of all the memories, the joy it brings him. Yoohwan has to turn away, lest he turn into an emotional mess in the midst of an amusement park. Not that it hasn't happened before, but tonight he's not in the mood. 

Looking around, he spots a booth selling ice cream and steps into line. He watches the crowd as he waits his turn, enjoying the atmosphere that never seems to fade until the park shuts down at closing. Sometimes he wonders if it's really true, that the park goes to sleep when the people have left it. Maybe he's read too many novels, but a part of him, the little boy buried deep inside, pretends that there's a whole other world that lurks just beyond the closed gates of the park. This park, any park. 

He orders his ice cream and eats it while he wanders around the park. This one is near his home, he knows it by heart. He could never get lost, but sometimes he discovers places he'd never noticed before, new vendors who sell things he doesn't need, but wants. He might come here a million times, but every so often he'll find something that reminds him why he doesn't stop coming. 

When Yoohwan finishes the ice cream, he knows it's time to go home. He's ready, tired and hungry for actual food. He makes his way toward the exit, toward the subway stop just beyond the gate. He stops, just before he exits, moving aside for a family with a sleeping toddler in his mother's arms. He turns, looking back into the park. It's almost closing time, but not quite, the park seems alive and for a long minute, maybe two, Yoohwan watches it. Then, because he knows it's time, he turns and walks away. 

It'll be there tomorrow and the day after, just waiting for him. Yoohwan thinks about his expenses, how much he's saved. His flat is tiny, he doesn't go out, but when he does he doesn't drink. He has more money in his bank account than he lets on. He wants to travel, he has a list on his phone, of all the parks he wants to visit. He's been to the ones in Korea and Japan, all of them, some more than once as a child. But there are others, in Asia of course, but also across the world. He wants to go to Europe, Australia, Africa, the Americas. He wants to see them all. 

Yoohwan knows he can't, he'll never have that much money. But that's why he has a second list, with the ones he wants to see most. And for those, he has enough money or will soon enough, and a passport. He knows where he's going first. He wants to see Disney World, in Florida. He's never been to the United States, but it's his first stop. 

His dream is years away, maybe three or four, but it's within his reach, at last. The only reason he's waiting is because he wants to be able to quit his job, to stay away from home as long as possible. He also has plans to write about his trip, maybe in a blog or maybe in a book. He wants something tangible in return, more than just an experience. He wants something he can share, something that isn't just Instagram photos and Facebook updates. 

But for now he makes do with trips to the amusement parks near him. They're full of his past and future, of things yet to come and times gone by. They are not enough, but Yoohwan can wait. He will wait and the future will wait for him, too.


End file.
